This afternoon I sent Adam a text asking him if he wanted to get our flu shots tonight before going grocery shopping (Woo! Fun Friday night plans!).

He texted back, �Probably not. I�ll explain soon.�

A short while later, he called and asked if I wanted to go out to dinner tonight. I said that it was a tempting idea, but I thought grocery shopping would make more sense. Our fridge is bare. Eating out only takes care of one meal, and we need several. He said, �I don�t know if you know this or not, but today is our four year anniversary. Are you sure you don�t want to go out tonight?�

As much fun and romantic as it is to get a flu vaccine followed by wandering the grocery store aisles, I caved. That�s when he told me that he�d already made reservations.

He knew that if I knew the reservations were made, I�d feel an obligation to go, whether I felt up to it or not. �Oh no! We can�t cancel this late! What if the restaurant has been turning people away all week long because our table was supposedly going to be filled on a Friday night? They�ll lose business because of us! In this economy, you just can�t do that to people!�

So, I didn�t get to know until after I said I was sure I wanted to go. This guy gets his restaurant-dining-with-Amy merit badge. After four long years of hard work, he deserves it.

We went to a Moroccan restaurant. It�s one of those places that has a set menu of seven courses. They have low, squishy couches, and the waiter sits down with you to discuss your dinner options. He doesn�t tell you what they�re serving. He interviews you about what you don�t or can�t eat. Then he washes your hands with rose water.

They lock the door, and to get in, you have to use a large ornate knocker. Adam said that he thought it was meant to be elitist, but I said I thought it was meant to seem like we�re visiting someone�s house. The sofa�s and the set menu seem to fit in with that. The belly dancer doesn�t really fit in with that explanation, though.

I�m not a big Moroccan food expert, but it seems like it might not be that different than East Asian food, conceptually. It�s already mostly vegetables and grains, so making it vegetarian or vegan is not a huge deal, as long as you�re not actually in it�s country of origin.

Culturally speaking, it�d be totally insane to turn down meat. Not because they have so much, but because they have so little. It�s almost impossible to find something that is truly vegetarian in Japan because their cuisine was developed from the need to make a small amount of meat go as far as possible (voila, that�s how you get things like fish-eye soup). A tiny amount of meat is added to large amounts of vegetables and grains. Everyone gets a taste, and whatever nutrition and density of calories it offers. Asking for something without meat isn�t offensive to them (like, we�re just that spoiled and picky), but more confusing, like we�re turning down gold bricks or sex or something.

Anyway, I really don�t know if that�s the case in Morocco, but they were able to easily accommodate a vegan diet at the restaurant tonight. It was delicious and fun. I loved the dark, comfy atmosphere, the smell of rose water and cinnamon.

I noticed that it was a beautiful, clear night as we waddled back to the car. We were both tired and we weren�t dressed for the slight chill in the air, so we came straight home.

Speaking of being tired, I�m going to rest. It seems like it will be the first time in weeks.

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